* * * * *
Secretary of Defense McNamara had logged a lot of flying time to get to this weapons test. The Air Force had clandestinely flown him and his four Secret Service bodyguards, from Washington to Honolulu, aboard a SAC B-52.* From Honolulu, a MATS Globemaster had transported them to Canterbury Island. And, there, a tandem-rotor Kaman Huskie helicopter had ferried them to the awaiting "Albemarle," which was anchored just off shore. Yet, none of that had prepared him for the G-forces he was now experiencing from the backseat of a RATO-equipped Grumman F-11-T supersonic trainer!
For Captain Rutherford of the "Fisher's Island Sound" had correctly anticipated what his counterpart, aboard the "Albemarle," would try next.
"Evac the Sec-Def aboard the Tiger," he had ordered: "Then, launch every other remaining Crusader, and 'King Kong' that bitch!! They may not kill her. But, hopefully, they'll keep her pre-occupied long enough for the Tiger to get out of range of the magnetic shockwave once Billington _does_ nuke her!"
His orders were carried out with the speed and efficiency he had come to expect from his crew. Orders that were vindicated within five minutes by Captain Billington's message from the "Albemarle."
As for Mr. McNamara's pilot? Lieutenant Commander Harold Buckler, Junior, was at the controls. The son of "Hurricane Hal" Buckler (pride of the RAF Eagle Squadrons during WWII), and the nephew of ONI's Commodore Buckler, this highly decorated veteran of the Korean War was the first to spot the approaching Super Sabre.
"Golf Tango to Hun Foxtrot," he swiftly radioed: "Golf Tango to Hun Foxtrot. Get the frig out of here! The U.S.S. Albemarle is about to launch an Honest John with nuclear warhead. Repeat: a nuclear warhead! Do you read me? Over."
"Hun Foxtrot to Golf Tango," replied the F-100's pilot: "Read you, loud and clear. But, we've got something better than nukes. Hun Foxtrot; over and out."
Major Elkhorn then started transmitting to the bridge of the guided missile cruiser.
"Hun Foxtrot to Albemarle; Hun Foxtrot to Albemarle! Cease fire. Repeat: cease fire! I'm approaching you from your two o'clock. And, I have something that just might provide the lethality you need. Over!"
"Albemarle to Hun Foxtrot," Captain Billington immediately replied: "It better be a wooden stake about the size of a redwood. Because, that's about the only thing we _haven't_ thrown at her, yet! Over."
"Roger that," confirmed Elkhorn.
The marine major then looked at his passenger.
"You heard the man," said the former: "You ready to eject?"
"Just so long as you don't do it, prematurely," quipped Anjiro Watanabe, with a wink and a thumb's up.
Whereupon, Elkhorn grinned and pressed the button that allowed for separate ejection of the pilot and observer's seats.
"GERONIMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" shouted Watanabe as he flew upward.
That lasted for about thirty eternal-seeming seconds. Then, at the zenith of his arc, he unbuckled his seat belt....so he could begin free-falling toward Comrade Rusalka's head!
It had been ten years since his last skydive. Only, this time, he was not opening the parachute at the count of three. Rather, he was peforming a relatively new maneuver called a High Altitude/Low Opening jump (HALO, for short). And, when the Nisei ninja finally did pull the rip cord, he drifted down right in front of the her eyes!
As anticipated, the mer-giantess was intrigued enough by this new type of intruder that she instinctively reached out and snagged the parachute in her left hand! She then looked over the little man dangling from it before sniffing him...and then smilingly opening her mouth.
Nor did Watanabe make any outcry of terrified protest as he slowly sank between both rows of algae-stained teeth.
tbc
Giantess World
Chapter End Notes:
*SAC: Strategic Air Command.
MATS: Military Air Transport Service.
RATO: Rocket-Assisted Take Off.
ONI: Office of Naval Intelligence (U.S. Navy).
MATS: Military Air Transport Service.
RATO: Rocket-Assisted Take Off.
ONI: Office of Naval Intelligence (U.S. Navy).